Rolls for application to textile fiber webs



Jan. 23,1968 0. H. RAMO 3,364,527 I ROLLS FOR APPLICATION TO TEXTILE FIBER WEBS Filed Au 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. OLIVER H. RANK) 8%, awwa, flaw 17 373mm,

ATTORNEYS Jan. 23, 1968 o H. RAMO 3,364,527

ROLLS FOR APPLICATION TO TEXTILE FIBER WEBS Filed Aug. 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. OLIVER H. RAMO ATTORNEYS Jan. 23, 1968 0, RAMO 3,364,527

ROLLS FOR APPLICATION TO TEXTILE FIBER WEBS Filed Aug. 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

OLIVER H. RAMO BY $452,, Z 44m,mm g @2012,

ATTORNEYS Jan. 23, 1968 o. H. RAMO 3,364,527

ROLLS FOR APPLICATION TO TEXTILE FIBER WEBS Filed Aug. 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

OLIVER H. RAMO BY F G. 5 w,%@m,@mm /m ATTORINEYS the rolls and parts constructions, it is difficult to get at certain portions of United States Patent Office 3,364,527 Patented Jan. 23, 1968 ABSTRAQT OF THE DISQLOSURE A pair of smooth rollers in a carding apparatus, each of which has a scraper with each roll and its scraper being mounted on a bracket, the bracket for the upper roll and its scraper having the upper roll rotatably mounted at one end thereof and being itself pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the lower roll bracket so that the upper roll can be moved into and out of en gagement with the lower roll by pivotal movement of the bracket without affecting the relative positions of the upper roll and its scraper since the scraper also moves with the top roll bracket on which it is mounted. Means are provided to releasably and yieldably lock the other end of the upper roll bracket to the lower roll bracket with the upper roll in operative position. This is achieved by use of a compression spring located in a cavity in the upper roll bracket and biased between such bracket and a rotatable locking member which is rotatable into engagement with the lower roll bracket, whereupon the locking member acting through the spring releasa-bly and yieldably locks the upper roll bracket to the lower roll bracket in operative position. Means are provided for adjusting the position of the pivot between the upper roll bracket and the lower roll bracket.

The present invention relates to improvements in rolls for application to textile fiber webs.

U.S. Patents Nos. 2,910,734 and 2,910,735 describe a pair of smooth take off rolls for removing textile fibers, particularly cotton fibers, in the form of a carded Web from the doffer of a carding machine.

US Patents Nos. 2,075,156 and 3,003,195 describe the use of a pair of smooth rolls for crushing impurities in carded textile webs, including cotton webs.

The aforesaid take off rolls may also perform crushing as one of their primary functions, as well as take off of the web.

Each roll of the aforesaid pairs of rolls is provided with a scraper blade for scraping the web off the rolls in the event that the web sticks to the rolls at spots and also for scraping the rolls clean of impurities that stick thereto.

One of the rolls of each (usually the upper roll) of the aforesaid pairs of rolls is slidable in its bracket toward and away from the other and is normally pressed into operating engagement with the other roll. The scraper blade for such one roll is mounted on the bracket for the roll but not for sliding movement with the roll so that when the roll is moved toward and away from the other roll, as aforesaid, the relative positions of such one roll and its scraper are changed.

The following problems present themselves with these rolls. First, it has been found that at times during operation the fibers of the web at spots tend to rotate with the movable roll beyond its scraper with resulting wraparound. When this happens, it is necessary to stop the machine. Secondly, it is necessary to periodically clean adjacent the rolls and with existing such rolls and parts to clean them. i

It is believed that the aforesaid problem of wraparound is caused by slight movement of the movable roll away from the other roll and with respect to its bracket during operation, e.g., by vibration or by a large impurity or lump of cotton fibers passing between the rolls. This causes the position of the scraper (the position of the scraper remains unchanged) relative to the movable roll to change with the result that optimum scraping engagement of the scraper with the roll is lost at a point or points along the roll. Consequently, at these points, the web is apt to pass beneath the scraper and cause a wrap-around.

The present invention overcomes these problems by mounting the normally slidable roll and its scraper so that the aforesaid movement thereof due to vibration, an impurity, a lump of fibers, etc., does not affect the relative positions of such roll and scraper.

This is done by mounting such roll and scraper on a pivoted bracket arm so that the normally slidable roll is movable toward and away from the other roll by swinging the arm about its pivot, and by rotatably mounting the roll on the arm with a fixed rotational axis rather than a laterally slidable one. The scraper, also mounted on the arm, is not moved relative to the arm either when the roll is moved as aforesaid during operation so that the relative positions of the roll and its scraper remain the same. The swingable arm is normally locked in operable position around its pivot in which position the roll mounted thereon operably engages the other roll.

In a preferred embodiment, the scraper blade for the movable roll is pivotably mounted on the swingable arm and is urged into scraping engagement with the roll. By making the pivot axes of the scraper and roll both fixed with respect to the arm, movement of the roll toward and away from the other roll slight distances during operation by swinging of the arm about its axis does not cause any change in the relative positions of the scraper and roll.

The important feature is that the relative positions of the movable roll and its scraper do not change when the roll is moved toward and away from the other roll during operation. Although the use of the aforesaid swingable arm construction works very well to achieve this, there are other Ways of doing this, e.g., by causing the movable roll and its scraper to both slide toward and away from the other roll in such a way that their relative positions remain unchanged.

By the use of a pivoted arm bracket, as aforesaid, the movable roll can be swung a substantial distance away from the other roll to expose both rolls and the parts adjacent thereto for easy cleaning of the same.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIG.1 is an elevational left side view partially in section of a pair of smooth take off rolls embodying the present invention and installed in a carding machine of the type used to card cotton and/or synthetic fibers to form a sliver which is subsequently passed. through drawing, roving and spinning frames to form a yarn;

FIG. 2 is a front view in elevation of the left hand portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational right sideview of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view in elevation of the right hand portion of the apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a section taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

With reference to the drawings, 2 represents a lower smooth metal (precision ground) take off roll (e.g., 2

inches in diameter), 4 an upper smooth metal (precision ground take oif roll (e.g., 1 inch in diameter), 6 a pair of brackets rotatably supporting the ends of the lower take off rolls, 8 a pair of brackets rotatably supporting the ends of the upper take off rolls, 10 the scraper blade for the upper take off roll and 12 the scraper blade for the lower take ofi roll. The rolls 2 and 4 are mounted alongside and closely adjacent the front of the doffer 14 of a carding machine to remove carded fibers from the doffer in the form of a carded web. The web may then be passed from the nip of rolls 2 and 4 to the nip of a pair of heavier smooth crushing rolls (not shown) from which it is pulled through a trumpet (not shown) by a pair of calender rolls (not shown) to condense it into a sliver which is coiled in a coiler can (not shown). Alternatively, the web from the nip of rolls 2 and 4 can pass directly to the trumpet, which is usually the case with synthetic fibers.

Each of the pairs of lower brackets 6 is made up of a lower base portion 7, a middle, roll-supporting portion 9 and an upper, arm-supporting portion 11, and is adjustably mounted on the card frame shelf 16 by means of a bolt 18, washers 20 and nut 22, as shown.

The reduced diameter, stepped, ends 23 of lower roll 2 are rotatably mounted in the middle portions 9 of brackets 6 by means of roller hearings or ball bearings 24 received in bearing recesses 25 in the lower brackets. Thus, the rotational axis of the lower roll 2 is fixed with respect to the lower brackets 6 and the dotfer 14.

One reduced end (right end in the drawings) of the lower roll 2 has a gear 26 afiixed thereto for driving the upper roll 4 and located in a gear recess 28 in the inner face of the lower bracket 6. The gear recess 28 is open at the top at 29 and the gear extends upwardly beyond such recess, as shown. As seen in FIG. 2, the other reduced end 23 of the lower roll 2 extends through and beyond its lower bracket 6 and the portion thereof protruding beyond the bracket has a sprocket 28a affixed thereto for driving the lower roll, as for example by a chain drive from the lower calender shaft (not shown). Although the lower bracket 6 for such other end of the lower roll is provided with a recess 28, such other end is not provided with a gear 26.

The pair of upper bracket arms 8 are pivotally mounted on and inside the upper portions 11 of the pair of lower brackets 6 by a pair of pivot pin assemblies 30 (FIG. 6). Each pin assembly 30 comprises a bolt 31 and a bushing in two parts, 33 and 35, passing through a hole 32 in the upper arm 8 and an elongated slot 34 in the lower bracket 6. Three washers 36 are provided as shown in FIG. 6. The assembly is secured together by the nut 37. The bushing part of each bushing is located in the hole 32 in upper arm 8 and is slightly greater in length than the length of the hole 32, i.e., the thickness of arm 8 at the hole. Bushing part 33 of each bushing is located in the slot 34 of the lower bracket 6 and is slightly shorter in length than the axial dimension of the slot, i.e., it is shorter in length than the thickness of the lower bracket 6 at the slot. Accordingly, when the nut 37 is tightened 0n the bolt 31, the bushing parts 33 and 35, the washers 36 and the bolt 31 are secured firmly as a unit to the lower bracket 6 but, because the bushing part 35 is greater in length than the thickness of arm 8, the middle washer 36 is prevented from jamming against the arm 8 so that the arm is free to swing about the bushing part 35.

The position of each pivot pin assembly 30 on the lower bracket 6 can be adjusted longitudinally in the slot 34 toward and away from the dofier by means of a pair of axially aligned adjusting screws 40 threaded in the lower bracket 6 on either side of the pivot pin assembly 30 to engage opposite sides of the bushing part 33, as shown, each adjusting screw being locked in adjusted position by nut 42.

The pair of pivot pin assemblies 30 of the two sets of upper and lower brackets are axially aligned.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper arms 8 are pivoted at 30 intermediate their ends.

The reduced ends 42a of the upper roll 4 are rotatably mounted in end portions of the pair of upper arms 8 by means of roller or ball bearings 44 located in recesses in the inner faces of the upper arms 8. One reduced end 42a (the right end in the drawings) of the upper roll 4 has a gear 46 fixed thereto, which gear is received in a gear recess 48 in the outer face of the arm 8 in which such end is supported. Gear recess 48 is open at the bottom at 49 and the gear 26 on lower roll 2 protrudes upwardly through such opening 49 into such recess to engage the gear 46 on the upper roll, whereby the upper roll is driven from the lower roll. The other reduced end of the upper roll 4 does not have a gear but the upper arm supporting such other end is the same in construction as the upper arm supporting the end having the gear. It is noted that the rotational axis of upper roll 4 is fixed with respect to the upper arms 8.

An upper gear cover 56 (FIG. 5) is secured to the upper arm to cover the gear 46 and its hub 52. Both the upper and lower gears 46 and 26, respectively, are further enclosed by the gear guard inner plate 54, a C-shaped gear guard ring 56 and an outer gear guard plate 58 all secured to the lower bracket by means of screws (not shown).

The upper roll 4 can be moved toward and away from the lower roll 2 into and out of operable engagement therewith by swinging the arms 8 (counterclockwise and clockwise, respectively, in FIG. 1) about the pivot axes 30.

During operation, the upper roll is yieldably and resiliently locked in operable engagement with the lower roll by means of a compression coil spring 60 located in a recess 62 in the end portion of each arm 8 opposite from the end portion in which roll 4 is mounted. Each coil spring 60 is biased between its arm, i.e., the floor 64 of the recess 62, and the head 66 of a bolt 68 which extends upwardly and slidably through the spring and through a hole 69 in the upper arm 8 and protrudes upwardly beyond the upper edge of the arm 8, as shown. The upper end of each bolt 68 has rotatably and slidably mounted thereon an L-shaped lock member 70 secured against sliding off the end of the bolt 68 by means of a nut 72 adjustably threaded on the end of bolt 68.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the horizontal leg 71 of each lock member 70 of each arm 8 has a hollow, split tubular extension 74, which engages the top edge 76 of the lower bracket 6, to which the arm 8 is pivoted, when such lock member is rotated on bolt 68 to the position shown in the drawings. When the lock members 70 are in these positions, the springs 60 are compressed to thereby resiliently urge the arms 8 about their pivots 30 (counterclockwise in FIG. 1 and clockwise in FIG. 3) to thereby resiliently urge the upper roll 4 into operable engagement with the lower roll 2.

By lifting and at the same time rotating the lock members 70 about the bolts 68 out of engagement with the upper edges 76 of the lower brackets, the arms 8 with their upper roll 4, are free to be swung (clockwise in FIG. 1 and counterclockwise in FIG. 3) to move the roll 4 out of engagement with the roll 2 and to a position well out of the way of the lower roll and in which both rolls and adjacent parts are fully exposed to facilitate cleaning, inspection, etc.

Thus, the lock members 70 are effective to releasably and yieldably lock the upper arms 8 and the upper roll 4 in operating positions in which the upper roll 4 is resiliently urged into operating engagement with the lower roll 2.

To rotate the lock members 70 back into locking engagement with the upper edges 76 of the lower brackets, it is necessary to lift them on bolts 68 against the force of springs 60 and at the same time rotate them about bolts 68 into engagement with the upper edges 76 of the lower brackets.

The scraper blade 12 for the lower roll 2 is mounted at one edge to a face of a rod 78 which is rectangular in cross-sectional shape and the ends of which are rotatably mounted on the lower brackets 6 by means of a pair of axially aligned center journal pins 80 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) the ends of which pins are journaled in centering recesses 82 in the ends of rod 78. Pins 80' are threaded in holes in the lower brackets 6, as shown, and the rod '78 with its scraper blade 12 are swingable about the pins 80 to swing the scraping edge of scraper blade 12 into and out of scraping engagement with the roll 2. Lock nuts 84 are provided to lock the pins 80- in place.

Scraper blade 12 is adjustably secured to rod 78 by strap 86 and a plurality of screws (not shown).

Scraper blade 10 for the upper roll 4 is also adjustably secured at one edge to a face of a rod 88 of rectangular cross-sectional shape by means of strap 90 and a plurality of screws (not shown). Rod 88 is rotatably mounted at its ends in lugs 92, extending integrally upwardly from the upper edges of the arms 8, by means of a pair of end shafts 94 extending integrally from the ends of the rectangular rod through holes in the aforesaid lugs 92, which holes rotatably receive such end shafts. The end shafts 94 are rotatably secured in the lugs 2 by means of collars 96 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) having set screws (not shown) threaded radially therethrough against the end shafts 94.

The scraping edges of the baldes 10 and 12 are normally resiliently and yieldably urged into scraping engagement with their rolls 4 and 2 respectively by means of a pair of tension springs 98. The opposite ends of each spring are secured to an arm 100 secured by a screw 101 to a face of rod 78 and an arm 100 secured by a screw 101 to a face of rod 88, as shown, to thereby urge the rods to rotate in directions in which the scraping edges of the scraper blades secured thereto are urged into scraping engagement with their respective rolls.

Each tension spring 100 is covered by a transparent plastic guard tube 102.

The angle of each scraper blade to the tangent of its roll at the point of engagement of the blade with the roll periphery is 25i3 to ensure against chattering.

It will be seen that movement of the roll 4 toward or away from the roll 2 is achieved by rocking of the arms 8 about their pivots 36, and without movement of the rotational axis of the roll 4 with respect to the arms 55.

In operation, the upper roll 4 may move slightly away from the lower roll for an instant due to vibration or the passage of a large impurity or bunched fibers through the nip, whereafter the springs 60 return the roll 4 to its proper position. This also occurs to some extent with larger crush rolls like those disclosed in US. Patents Nos. 2,075,156, 3,003,195 and 318,730, whose only function is to crush impurities. As aforesaid, in prior constructions such movement of the upper roll was accomplished by movement of the rotational axis thereof relative to its supporting brackets. This changed the position of such roll with respect to its scraper blade so that for an instant the blade was no longer in optimum scraping position with respect to the roll thereby sometimes causing wrap-around. However, it will be seen that in the construction of the present invention there is no change in the relative positions of the upper roll and its blade when this instantaneous movement of the upper roll occurs, because the rotational axis of the blade 10 is also fixed with respect to the arms 8 so that upon movement of the roll 4 toward and away from roll 2, the positions of the upper roll and its scraper It) with respect to each other are unaffected and remain the same. Consequently, the scraper blade remains in optimum scraping position withrespect to the roll at all times during operation thereby avoiding wrap-around on the upper roll.

Of course, there is no change in relative positions of 6 the lower roll and its scraper either so that wrap-around is no problem with respect to such lower roll.

When the locking members are released and the arms 8 are swung to the limit of their swing away from the lower roll 2 to expose the rolls, the tension in springs 98 may become relaxed to the point where the scraper blades will move away from their respective rolls. However, this never occurs due to slight movement of the upper roll away from the lower roll as might occur in normal operation, i.e., it never occurs when the locking members 70 are in the lock positions shown in the drawings.

If desired, separate springs for each of the scraper blades can be used, the ends of the springs for each blade beinganchored to its bracket to provide independent biasing for each blade. In this way, the relative positions of the blade and its roll remain unchanged at all positions of swing of the arms.

In some cases, a main crushing roll is used with two auxiliary crushing rolls pressed thereagainst. One of the auxiliary rolls may function with the main roll as take off rolls. In such case, the two auxiliary rolls and their scrapers may be mounted on a single pivoted bracket arm in accordance with the invention or each auxiliary roll and its scraper may be mounted on a pivoted bracket arm.

Although reference is made to the upper roll operably engaging the lower roll, it is understood that in operation there is a textile web pressed therebetween so that there is no actual engagement. There is such engagement, however, when there is no web therebetween.

I claim:

1. In a carding apparatus comprising a doffer cylinder from which a textile web is removed and having a pair of smooth rolls after the doffer through which said web is adapted to pass, each of said rolls having a scraper and being mounted with its scraper on a bracket for rotation of said each roll, the improvement comprising means pivotally mounting the bracket of one of said rolls on the bracket of the other of said rolls for pivotal movement of said one roll into and out of engagement with the other roll, means for mounting said one roll and its scraper on its bracket for said movement of said one roll without affecting the relative positions of said one roll and its scraper at least during operation and means for releasably locking the bracket for said one roll in operating position with respect to the bracket for the other roll. in which position said one roll is urged into operable engagement with said other roll, said one roll comprising an upper roll and the other roll comprising a lower roll, said bracket for said upper roll com prising an upper arm pivotally mounted on said bracket for said lower roll intermediate its ends, said upper roll being rotatably mounted at an end of said arm, said means for locking said arm in operative position comprising resilient means biased between the other end of said arm and said lower bracket, said resilient means comprising a compression spring located in a cavity in said upper arm, a bolt having a head and located in said cavity, said bolt extending upwardly through said spring and said upper arm beyond theupper edge of said upper arm and having a locking member mounted at the upper end thereof for rotation into and out of locking engagement with the upper edge of said lower bracket to resiliently lock the upper arm in said operating position.

2. In a carding apparatus comprising a doffer cylinder from which a textile web is removed and having a pair of smooth rolls after the dotfer through which said web is adapted to pass, each of said rolls having a scraper and being mounted with its scraper on a bracket for rotation of said each roll, the improvement comprising means pivotally mounting the bracket of one of said rolls on the bracket of the other of said rolls for pivotal movement of said one roll into and out of engagement with the other roll, means for mounting said one roll and its scraper on its bracket for said movement of said one roll without affecting the relative positions of said one roll and its scraper at least during operation and means for releasably locking the bracket for said one roll in operat ing position with respect to the bracket for the other roll, in which position said one roll is urged into operable engagement with said other roll, said one roll comprising an upper roll and the other roll comprising a lower roll, said bracket for said upper roll comprising an upper arm pivotally mounted on said bracket for said lower roll intermediate its ends, said upper roll being rotatably mounted at an end of said arm, said means for locking said arm in operative position comprising resilient means biased between the other end of said arm and said lower bracket, said upper arm being pivoted to said lower bracket by pivot means comprising a bolt and nut and a bushing around said bolt and in two parts, one of said parts being located in a hole in said upper arm and the other being located in an opening in the lower bracket, a washer located between said arm and lower bracket, around said bolt and between the opposed ends of said bushing parts, the bushing part in said am being longer in length than the thickness of said hole, whereby when the nut is tightened on said bolt, the bushing and bolt are secured to said lower bracket but said arm is free to rotate on its bushing part.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, said opening comprising a slot and means for adjusting the position of said pivot means in said slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 422,908 3/1890 Brewster 241-232 507,746 10/1893 Moorhouse 15-25651 571,266 11/1896 Favrow 241232 2,479,759 8/ 1949 Merchant 19-272 X 2,560,837 7/1951 Alciati, et al 241--232 2,910,735 11/1959 Clark 19--106 3,121,247 2/1964 Malicky et al 15-25651 3,235,898 2/1966 Scowcroft. 3,259,945 7/1966 Zoch 19--l06 FOREIGN PATENTS 724,503 12/1955 Great Britain.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner. 

